Laundry list of disputes delays award of police uniform contract

December 1, 2008  Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Wisconsin)

By Dave Umhoefer

Milwaukee's finest are poised for a fashion overhaul that a New York City-based uniform manufacturer says will replace the cops' current "Mayberry" image with a cutting-edge look.

But the company's path to outfitting the Milwaukee Police Department's 2,000 officers with new trousers and shirts is getting bumpy.

An alderman and a labor group recently won a delay in the selection of a local supplier for replacement uniforms, complaining that bid documents specified a favored manufacturer -- I. Spiewak & Sons, the New York firm. The century-old company is non-union and says it would make the uniforms in China.

Milwaukee labor activists who pushed through a pioneering anti-sweatshop clothing ordinance here would like to see another manufacturer, Pennsylvania-based Elbeco, get the chance to outfit Milwaukee police.

Elbeco does not claim that all its uniforms are made in the United States, but it has several unionized domestic facilities. Spiewak defends its record on working conditions.

For years, the city's men in blue have worn Horace Small brand pants and shirts made outside the U.S. by VF Imagewear, based in Nashville, Tenn., a company official said. In recent years, Badger Uniforms, on Milwaukee's south side, has held the city contract to act as local supplier of those uniforms.

Badger's contract expired last summer but was extended until February 2009. At the time of the extension, Milwaukee police made a switch to Spiewak-made duty uniforms. A department committee recommended the move to Police Chief Edward Flynn. Officers liked the hidden cargo pockets, the water-repellent fabric and other features.

"The police liked the material. It has a nice hand to it, a nice feel," said Linda Robison, general manager at Badger. "It's really nice and soft, like a PJ."

Badger is now competing for a new contract to supply uniforms until at least 2012. Big money and bragging rights are at stake in the competition.

The total police uniform expense last year topped $433,000, according to the department's spokeswoman, Anne E. Schwartz. Since 2004, the city has paid more than $900,000 to Badger Uniforms to buy and supply clothing to the department through Badger's local outlet, according to the city purchasing director, Rhonda Kelsey.

It's standard for departments to request certain brand-name items that are written into bids, Kelsey said.

The police decision to switch upset VF, which, like other manufacturers, said it did not get a chance to make its sales pitch to the department committee.

"It was railroaded through," said Danny Gillham, business development manager for VF. "It was kind of shocking to hear that Milwaukee had made a decision."

He said the selection process should be public.

An Elbeco official in the Midwest, Bob Dragicevich, said a police committee was given shirts and pants from major manufacturers, then picked two for a "wear test." He said Spiewak and another firm, not Elbeco, were part of the test.

Elbeco still holds out hope that Milwaukee will open up the process to more brands.

"At this point, if the city shows some flexibility and allows an equal or close to equal, we'll certainly get our shirt and pants out there and get it to some vendors," Dragicevich said.

Spiewak isn't the only manufacturer named in the bid specifications, but it's in line for the biggest chunk of the job: duty shirts and pants. Elbeco would get a small piece of the action, as specified: 300 police aide and auxiliary shirts.

Kelsey said local uniform vendors bidding on the contract could write in alternative brands. But bid documents say "no substitutes" for the Spiewak pants. Asked about that by a reporter, Kelsey said that was an error. She later called it to the attention of interested suppliers.

The bidding period for would-be local suppliers was supposed to close in mid-November. It was bumped back a week to answer bidders' questions.

Then, Milwaukee Ald. Tony Zielinski sought a delay from Kelsey's office. She granted it, moving the bid closing to Dec. 4.

Zielinski, a backer of the sweatshop ordinance, said he was concerned about the bid specifications favoring some manufacturers who he perceived to be less likely to meet the city's anti-sweatshop standards. He referenced a letter sent to the city by a lawyer representing UNITE HERE, a labor coalition affiliated with the Milwaukee Clean Clothes Campaign.

Kelsey said she agreed to the delay to try to increase competition on the contract.

Spiewak officials are frustrated by the delay and say their privately held company takes care of workers and will be compliant with the wage levels called for in the Milwaukee ordinance.

"The Milwaukee Police Department picked us," said Sol Jacobs, Spiewak's vice president of sales. The company's product "meets the needs of the agency better than any other product on the market."

The firm has a manufacturing plant in Mississippi and facilities overseas. An allegation by UNITE HERE that Spiewak had falsely claimed to have a New York City manufacturing plant was based on a simple misunderstanding, Spiewak President Roy J. Spiewak wrote to Kelsey.

Spiewak used the "Not in Mayberry Anymore" line in a press release it had prepared in anticipation of making uniforms for Milwaukee police. The release said many law enforcement agencies still wear uniforms of a style seen on TV as worn by "sheriff" Andy Griffith.

Spiewak is not the only non-union uniform maker doing business overseas.

In years past, VF produced in Mexico the Horace Small uniforms for Milwaukee cops, according to Gillham, who added that VF supports efforts to ensure good labor conditions. The Horace Small brand is now called The Force.

Steve Watrous, a local member of the Clean Clothes Campaign, said the group is trying to help Elbeco compete for the Milwaukee uniform work. The campaign wants the bid specifications rewritten.

The anti-sweatshop ordinance has been ineffective, Watrous said.